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Thursday, 13 December 2012

The Road Back

This novel is a very interesting read. It opens with an
intriguing scene which has a significance which will only become clear to the
reader much later in the book. I liked this approach because it drew me through
the book, wanting to know what had happened in order to bring about this
outcome.

The structure of the novel, which is essentially a love
story, is also quite unusual. It introduces the reader to the two main
characters, Patricia and Kalden, in turn and follows them from childhood as
they grow up and move towards their first meeting. This technique helps the
reader to fully identify with both the main characters and makes the impact of
their meeting and its attendant dilemmas even stronger.

What makes ‘The Road Back’ really stand out, though, is the
geographical and historical setting. A lot of research has clearly gone into
writing the book, but the detail is included in a way that feels natural and
not forced. The reader gets to experience with Patricia her early life in a
London scarred by the blitz, and a family bruised by war, and to see the
country of Ladakh (a country north of the Himalayas) through Kalden’s eyes as he grows up there.

The strength of the love story and the richness of the
detail of life in Ladakh, a country I knew nothing about before reading this
book, carry the reader through this compelling tale. And, without giving too
much away, the end of the story has a final unexpected twist which really
delivers on the promise of the beginning.